Mavs' Matthews after loss: 'I suck right now'
DALLAS — At least Wesley Matthews is shooting straight in a figurative sense.
Matthews, the shooting guard to whom the Dallas Mavericks gave a four-year, $70 million max contract this summer despite the ruptured left Achilles tendon he suffered in March, is battling through one of the worst shooting slumps of his seven-year career. He offered no excuses, only harsh criticism of himself after going 1-of-9 from the floor, including 1-of-8 from 3-point range, in Friday’s 100-96 loss to the Houston Rockets.
“I’m just tired of hurting the team, tired of missing shots,” Matthews said. “I put everything I have into this game. I have since I started playing. I put everything I had into getting back and being ready. I’m just trying to keep the doubt out. I never second-guess myself. I’ve never been the one to be hesitant or lack confidence.
“In the meantime, I’ve got to keep busting my ass on the defensive end. If I’m going through hell on offense, then the other person has to be, too.”
Matthews’ rough outing against the Rockets dropped his field goal percentage this season to 34.2 percent, including 30.8 percent from 3-point range. His career norms are 44 percent from the floor and 39 percent from beyond the arc, and Matthews proved himself as one of the NBA’s most prolific 3-point threats during his five-year tenure with the Portland Trail Blazers.
Matthews, who surprised many by fulfilling his promise to be ready for the Mavs’ season opener, said he’s “still working in that process” of fully recovering from his Achilles injury. However, he added that he feels good physically, noting that he competed well defensively against Houston’s All-NBA shooting guard James Harden.
Matthews insisted he isn’t dealing with a confidence crisis, but he is clearly frustrated by his poor results offensively.
“I suck right now,” said Matthews, who is averaging 11.1 points per game, 4.3 fewer than his average during his five seasons in Portland. “Point blank, period, I suck right now on the offensive end as far as shooting the ball, as far as what I can do, as far as making shots and what everybody knows I can do. I’ve got to find it on this road trip and sustain it.”
Coach Rick Carlisle said the solution for Matthews is simply to stay the course. Every teammate asked about Matthews expressed extreme confidence in him.
“We all go through it, and he’s coming off just a major, major injury,” Dirk Nowitzki said. “He’s just got to keep working. I like him stepping into those shots all day. Some of them look good. Some of them are in and out. You’ve got to take them with confidence. The team wants him to shoot.
“He made over 40 percent [of his 3-point attempts] basically his entire career or whatever, so he’s going to find his stroke. But he doesn’t hurt us. He’s our fighter. He’s a hard-nosed kid. He’s a tough guy. He’ll be OK.”
Added Chandler Parsons: “He’s not letting us down. He’s giving us everything he has every single night. He guards the best player every single night. It’s a long season. Everybody goes through slumps. You’re going to miss shots, but he can control the game and dominate the game in so many other different areas. He can’t get down off his jumper. He helps us in so many different areas, especially his defense. We all believe in him. We’ll all stay confident in him.”
Point guard Deron Williams, who was also Matthews’ teammate in Utah when Matthews was an undrafted rookie, said it’s important for Matthews to stay patient and for the rest of the Mavs to stay positive with him. Williams acknowledged that he’s concerned about Matthews’ confidence dropping.
“Yeah, because I’ve been there,” said Williams, who shot a career-low 38.7 percent from the floor with the Brooklyn Nets last season. “If you get too negative and put too much pressure on yourself, then it can start playing tricks on you. Like I said, I’m just going to keep trying to stay positive with him, and the shots will fall.”
Matthews said that almost all of his shots feel good leaving his hand but that he thinks he might be settling for too many 3-pointers. He has attempted 117 3s and only 70 shots inside the arc this season, which is partially due to the spacing in the Dallas offense usually putting him on the perimeter.
Matthews told ESPN.com that he doesn’t feel any external pressure because of the size of his contract or expectations from anybody but himself.
“I don’t care about any of that,” Matthews said. “In my mind before I got hurt, I was worth every penny. I still feel that way because I know who I am. I know what I was, I know what I can be.
“I told you guys that I’m going to be a better player than I was last year, and that’s the only pressure that I feel. … I know what I give to this game and what I put into it. The only standard that I hold myself to is that I told you guys and believe and still do that I’m going to be better than I was last season. That’s it. It’s gotta start.”
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